Top-ranked Alabama creamed Arkansas, 52-0. Even in such a lopsided defeated, we learned some things about both programs, including that Arkansas quarterback Tyler Wilson has fire in his gut.

Wilson calls out teammates

There’s only one question left for this talented Arkansas team after back-to-back losses: Does coach John L. Smith lose the locker room?

A reserved, almost defeated Smith says the team will persevere. Tyler Wilson, the team’s star quarterback, took a different stand—calling out his teammates for quitting.

It took Wilson 67 seconds to deliver the message—one that Smith couldn’t do in his entire post-game postmortem. Wilson didn’t play Saturday because of a concussion sustained in last week’s loss to Louisiana-Monroe.

But his statement—almost Tim Tebow-esque in its fiery tone—reveals a team that may be on the brink of breaking down.

“First of all, it wasn’t very pretty to watch. It wasn’t pretty to sit on the sideline and watch as a player, it sucks I can’t do anything about it,” Wilson said. “Do I feel that we, at times, gave up out there? Absolutely.

"As a leader it sucks to see people not do their jobs and to see things go wrong, there has been a lot of things go that way. As a leader, at this point you have to look forward. There has been a lot of people jump off of the bandwagon and it is my job to keep everyone in this organization and this team in that locker room together.

“I am going to make sure of it going forward. We’ve got a big game against Rutgers next week. I am going to do everything in my power to be a part of it and be the starting quarterback when we run out onto the field. And most importantly, get a win. You have to start with one before you can get the rest of them. I give you my word, I am going to do the best I can to make that happen.”

Wilson didn’t take questions after his statement and walked out of the interview room.

The next test

That begins a string of three straight games that likely will determine if Alabama is good enough to win three national titles in four seasons: at Tennessee, Mississippi State, at LSU.

Win those three, and no one touches this team. Not the SEC East Division winner in the SEC title game, and not any other team in the nation in the BCS National Championship Game.

“They’re good enough to (win it all), no question,” said Arkansas coach John L. Smith. “You need to win big games and get some luck—everyone needs some luck at some point in the season—but they definitely are good enough.”